Shloka 1
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Anxiety and Bhīṣma’s Theological Explanation of Pāṇḍava Invincibility
Book 6, Chapter 61
अपना छा अ-क्राछ सप्तपञ्चाशत्तमो< ध्याय: उभय पक्षकी सेनाओंका घमासान युद्ध संजय उवाच ततो व्यूकेष्वनीकेषु तावकेषु परेषु च । धनंजयो रथानीकमवधीत् तव भारत,संजय कहते हैं--भारत! आपकी और पाण्डवोंकी पूर्वोक्तरूपसे व्यूह-रचना सम्पन्न हो जानेपर अर्जुनने आपके रथियोंकी सेनाका संहार आरम्भ किया
sañjaya uvāca | tato vyūḍheṣv anīkeṣu tāvakeṣu pareṣu ca | dhanañjayo rathānīkam avadhīt tava bhārata ||
Sañjaya said: “Then, when the battle-formations (vyūhas) of both sides—yours and the enemy’s—had been fully arrayed, Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) began to strike down the chariot-warriors’ division of your army, O Bhārata.” The verse frames the clash as an organized, deliberate engagement: once the ordered vyūhas are set, the kṣatriya-duty’s moral tension turns into immediate, consequential action on the field.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that once both sides have consciously entered an ordered battle (vyūha), action follows as a matter of kṣatriya-duty; moral responsibility is heightened because the violence is not accidental but undertaken within a deliberate, rule-governed war context.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that after both armies are arrayed in their formations, Arjuna (Dhanañjaya) begins the slaughter of the Kaurava chariot division, marking the onset of intense fighting in this phase.